Wednesday 24 February 2016 A talented musician from The Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL) was back to winning ways this week as she won the school’s annual piano competition for the second time. Rachel Kempner, lower sixth, stood out from the field of ten finalists in the Tebb Piano Competition with her performance of three pieces – Für Elise by Beethoven, Traümerei by Schumann and Andalusia by Granados. Rachel had previously won the competition in 2013, and has been studying piano since the age of five with Dame Fanny Waterman, founder of the Leeds International Piano Competition. The adjudicator was Dr Nicky Losseff, senior lecturer and director of the piano studies pathway at the University of York. Nicky described Rachel’s playing as “evenly balanced, with a beautiful sound and real emotional depth.” Nicky gave valuable feedback on the performances of all ten finalists, ranging from year 7 to upper sixth, who had been selected in a preliminary round in school. Nicky said: “The standard was high; there wasn’t a single performance where I wasn’t caught by the attention to detail and musicality.” Two runners-up were also named – Uma Schuth, year 7, (highly commended) who “observed articulation nicely” and Tony Wu, upper sixth (commended) for his “splendid energy and technical control.” The finalists performed their chosen pieces to a specially invited audience including musician and Old Leodiensian Robert Tebb, after whom the competition is named. Now in its eighth year the competition is made possible thanks to the generosity of Robert, who donates the prizes, including the trophy which was originally awarded to him in recognition of his 25 years of service to the Leeds International Piano Competition. General Senior School Sixth Form
